


A (Not so) Simple Misunderstanding

by AAvery



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mentions of underage drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 05:22:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10550770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AAvery/pseuds/AAvery
Summary: Surprisingly and completely out of nowhere, Seungcheol had come to me. Out of everyone in the classroom that he could’ve chosen as a lab partner for the semester, he chose me. I normally worked alone and suffered in silence until he came and offered his help. Obviously, I gladly took it. I needed to graduate after all.I thought that I could have a chance with him, though, since we hit it off so well. But then he asked a girl out a few weeks ago. He stopped tutoring me in favor of hanging out with her, after that.It didn’t surprise me any… but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell. She was the prettiest girl in this godforsaken high school and Seungcheol was liked by everyone. Of course they would end up together. What chance did I honestly ever stand?





	

“Come on, Jeonghan! We haven’t seen all of our friends all week because of all these stupid finals. We’re on break. Time to have some fun!” My friend, Jihoon, yelled at me as we walked over to his car after school.

“I will have some fun… sleeping away the stress.” I replied and Jihoon gave me a dirty look as we got into his car.

“Maybe if you stopped trying so hard, you wouldn’t have so much stress. You can unwind at the party, it’ll be fun,” Jihoon tried to persuade me. I really didn’t want to go, especially if _he_ was going to be there with _her._

“Is Seungcheol going to be there?” I asked casually… or what I hoped was casually.

“Well yeah… I think he’s bringing his girlfriend, too. Why?”

“No reason,” I said, miserably. I knew I really shouldn’t feel this way but I couldn’t help it. I’d had a crush on Seungcheol since I first met him in chemistry. He was always smiling and had such a carefree attitude while at the same time being so incredibly intelligent without even trying. Practically the complete opposite of myself. It was a never ending struggle to stay afloat in my classes and I was painfully shy.

Surprisingly and completely out of nowhere, Seungcheol had come to me. Out of everyone in the classroom that he could’ve chosen as a lab partner for the semester, he chose me. I normally worked alone and suffered in silence until he came and offered his help. Obviously, I gladly took it. I needed to graduate after all.

I thought that I could have a chance with him, though, since we hit it off so well. But then he asked a girl out a few weeks ago. He stopped tutoring me in favor of hanging out with her, after that.

It didn’t surprise me any… but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell. She was the prettiest girl in this godforsaken high school and Seungcheol was liked by everyone. Of course they would end up together. What chance did I honestly ever stand?

I pretended everything between the two of us was fine. Even when he cancelled tutoring sessions and planned hangouts time after time. Usually it was last minute cancellations, too. As in, I’d already be at the place waiting for him and then he’d cancel. It hurt so much but I couldn’t let it show. What kind of friend would complain about their other friend being happy? Even when that friend feels so lonely it physically hurts.

My grades started really hurting, too. I started spending basically every waking moment in the library studying just to keep afloat. Seungcheol had basically been a boat in the sea of never ending work… a boat that left me to drown at the first sign of an easier passenger… I wasn’t bitter… I wasn’t.

That’s why I was so tired. I had to pass my mid-terms to graduate… I had to! I didn’t want Seungcheol to be disappointed even if he never noticed. But in doing so… I couldn’t remember the last time I actually slept longer than thirty minutes.  

“Yo! Earth to Jeonghan!” Jihoon’s voice broke through my thoughts. “You still with me?”

“Yeah…” I said distractedly. “What?”

“You have a crush on Seungcheol, don’t you?” Jihoon gave me the most serious look I had ever seen him give.

“What?! How the- What?! How’d you know?” I asked, exasperated. If this got out, I’d be the laughing stock of the school.

“I didn’t, but you just told me.” He flashed me a big smile that looked way too mischievous for my liking.

“Fuck you,” I replied angrily and he stopped laughing.

“Dude, I won’t tell anyone. That’d be a real dick move. But seriously you should come to this party. It’d be a great way to meet someone new… or make up with Seungcheol.” I didn’t quite catch the last part of Jihoon’s sentence but I laughed at the first. I’ve tried to find someone new… but who in their right mind would go for me?

“Jeonghan, come on. Stay with me here.” Jihoon snapped his fingers in front of my face a few times.

“Fine, I’ll go to this stupid party. I’ll just nap in the corner the entire time,” I mumbled and Jihoon grinned at me before swiping blond hair out of his eyes and starting his car.  

*  *  *

Two hours later found me sitting in a corner alone with a half-finished soda in my hands. Why couldn’t Jihoon just let me stay home and happily sleep? Now I had to sit alone in a corner and watch as Seungcheol danced and made out with his girlfriend. That’s what they were doing, in the corner opposite me. This really sucked.

“Hey Jeonghan! You came! Why do you look so pissed off?” Jisoo yelled over the music as he sat next to me. I didn’t respond just gestured over to Seungcheol in the corner.

“Yeah I get it, come here.” Jisoo pulled me into a sideways hug so that I was leaning against his chest with his arm slung around my shoulders. I closed my eyes and relaxed my head against his shoulder. I was so glad to have Jisoo as a best friend. He always knew exactly how to make me feel better. There was a time I considered dating him but that’d just be too weird; he’s like a brother to me. Besides, he was pretty happy with his current boyfriend.

“He still being a jerk?” He asked and I nodded, my eyes still closed. “It’ll be okay.”

“I’m going to fall asleep,” I mumbled and he laughed.

“Go for it.”

I was going to, too, but I got this weird feeling. Like someone was staring at me. Opening my eyes, I met Seungcheol’s gaze across the room. We kept up a staring contest for a few seconds before his girlfriend pulled his attention back to her. He smiled brightly and started talking to her. Every once in a while; though, I would catch him glancing in my direction. His girlfriend seemed to be getting angry with him.

“You okay?” Jisoo asked when I shifted a bit.

“Yeah, just really tired.”

“I understand, you were pretty stressed the last time I saw you,” Jisoo agreed absentmindedly played with a strand of my long blond hair.

“Well, since Seungcheol refused to even meet me, I had to do it all on my own.”

“Poor baby,” Jisoo joked.

“Shut up.” I laughed.

“You need a haircut.”

“Do not!”

“Yes, you do. Look at these split ends!”

“I do not!” I laughed and playfully swatted Jisoo’s hand away. I sat up from Jisoo’s arms and ran a hand through my hair.

Looking across the room, Seungcheol was staring again. His girlfriend looked absolutely pissed off but Seungcheol wasn’t paying attention. He said something to her, not even giving a glance in her direction and she stormed away from him.

“What was that about?” Jisoo asked, apparently having seen the same thing I had.

“No idea,” I replied, watching as Seungcheol took a breath and stood up. It looked like he was walking right towards us.

“I-I’m going to get another soda,” I stammered out and rushed away from Jisoo and a disheartened looking Seungcheol. I ran into the mostly empty kitchen and tried to calm myself down. He probably just wanted to talk to me since his girlfriend was pissed at him. I would always be his second option, it seemed.

I shook my head a few times just because I thought it would make me feel better and threw my soda can out. Opening the fridge, I grabbed a fresh one; I thought about grabbing something stronger but getting drunk didn’t sound like a good idea. I’d probably say something I’d regret later. I turned around, closed the fridge and nearly jumped out of my socks.

“You scared the crap outta me,” I sighed, holding my chest and glaring at Seungcheol, who decided standing right behind me and not saying anything was a good idea.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Well, it’s nice to see you, too, but I’d rather not.” I tried to walk away from him but he threw an arm in front of my face, tapping me between his arm and the wall. “What the hell?”

“I have to talk to you or I’m going to go crazy,” he said.

“You’re going crazy? Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you forgot about me.” I tried to push past him but he caught me by the waist.

“Forget about you? As if I could actually do that. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He started leaning in closer to me with every word. What… What was he doing? Was he trying to… to kiss me? No… he couldn’t be. But he kept getting closer, not breaking eye contact with me.

But as he did, I began to notice a strong bitter smell… He was drunk. He was only doing this because he was drunk and his girlfriend was pissed at him.

I did the only thing I could think of to get him to stop.

“Ah! Jeonghan… what?!” He cried out and took a step back away from me, holding his reddening cheek. My hand stung and I felt like crying. “Jeonghan wait!” I heard him call as I ran out of the kitchen and locked myself in a bathroom. What the hell was he doing? Did he think I was easy or something?

Oh and now I was crying… great. What a great idea, Jihoon! Such a fun party.

“Jeonghan?” I whipped around to see Seungcheol again.

“How did you…”

“I know where Hansol keeps the key,” he responded, holding up a small piece of metal. Of course he would know; Seungcheol hung around Hansol’s house almost as much as he used to at mine.

Seungcheol closed the door behind him and locked it again. I immediately went on guard.

“Don’t do that. I’m not going to do anything.” He looked so sad but I didn’t lower my guard.

“You wanted to talk, so talk,” I said shakily, wiping my eyes in a futile attempt to hide that I was crying.

“Right… I broke up with my girlfriend.”

“What? When?”

“Ten minutes ago… she got real angry with me. Poured her drink over my head.” He laughed and ran a hand through his slightly damp hair.

“So… you’re not drunk?” Is that why he smelled like alcohol? Shit.

“Haven’t had a drink tonight.”

“Oh… sorry…”

“Why are you apologizing? This whole mess is my fault… you’re crying.” He stepped forward and reached out to wipe away a few stray tears.

“I slapped you because I thought you were drunk… So I’m sorry.”

“Nono don’t apologize. I deserved it, regardless. That was a terrible idea to force myself on you.” We didn’t say anything for a few seconds.

“Why did you break up with her so suddenly?” I asked quietly. He cleared his throat and fidgeted a bit.

“Okok… jumping right into it…” He took a deep breath. “Because of you.”

“Ah what?” Did I hear him right?

“When I saw you and Jisoo all cuddled up on the couch… it just made me so angry even though I know you’re just close… but that’s not the only thing.”

“When I first came up to you earlier this year in chemistry, I thought you were a girl.”

I gave him a look.

“Just hear me out,” he laughed. “I thought you were a really pretty girl so I went to talk to you. But when you spoke, I realized you were a guy.”

I gave him another look.

“Stop! I wasn’t bothered by it! I still thought you were really pretty and absolutely adorably shy.”

I could already feel myself beginning to blush.

“And then when we started hanging out regularly I just… enjoyed it so much. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but soon you became all that I could think of.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was this really happening?

“I didn’t know what was going on… so I thought that maybe if I got a girlfriend I could stop thinking about my best friend in not so friendly ways.”

“I just threw myself into it. And ended up being such a huge jerk to you. I know what I did was horrible but I was so confused. I’m so so sorry. But just now, seeing you acting so intimate with Jisoo, even if you’re just friends, made me finally realize it. I broke up with her without even thinking about it.”

“Jeonghan…” he put his hand back on my cheek and stepped even closer. “I don’t know what I was thinking… I don’t even know if you feel the same way. But I freaking adore you and that girl pales in comparison to how absolutely beautiful you are.” Seungcheol finally finished his speech and I was left speechless.

“You’ve gotta say something…” He rested his forehead against mine, “You’re crying again.”

“Because you’re an asshole.” We both laughed, “For taking so damn long to realize your feelings. Do you know how hard it was to watch you and her together?” He grimaced.

‘I’m sorry… but does that mean yes?”

“You haven’t asked me anything yet.”

“Oh right. Jeonghan, will you go out with me?”

“Finally.” Seungcheol gave me one of his brightest smiles before leaning in and kissing me. It felt better than I ever could have imagined.

“You wanna get out of here?”

“Only if you’ll carry me home and let me sleep.”

“Hmm… only if I can cuddle next to you.”

“Deal.” He smiled again before bending down.

“Hop on,” he said and I giggled. I jumped on his back and he effortlessly lifted me up.

“Seungcheol?”

“Yes, angel?”

“I really like you, too.” He turned his head and smiled at me. I leaned forward and kissed his check.

I couldn’t remember the last time I was this happy. This was actually happening.

Seungcheol carried me to his house and let me lounge around his bed while he took a shower to get rid of the alcohol smell. Then he joined me. I buried my head under his chin as he wrapped his arms around me.

I had a sneaking suspicion that, perhaps, Jisoo and Jihoon had planned all this. But if that was the case I didn’t even care. Lying next to Seungcheol with his arms around me and his steady breathing in my hair was heaven.

It went without saying that that was the best night of sleep I’d had in a while.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading
> 
> All comments appreciated


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